Madarame no Himitsu
by Jaganshi Mori
Summary: Sequel to 'His Past'. But you don't really NEED to read the first story to go into this one, but it would kinda make a little more sense. Heh, but guess what? Ikkaku...has...family? *faints* R&R! Flames welcome!
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my sequel to 'His Past'! . If you have not read it then you probably should, although you probably won't be _entirely_ lost if you read this first! This story is the second half out of a three part sequel and if you follow it, you'll probably get kinda frustrated! XD They're meant to be out of order, so you can fit the pieces yourself. (smirk)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any references to 'Higurashi no naku koro ni (kai)'! Just my own OC and this plot! Thank you for reading! PLEASE REVIEW/FLAME! I'll love you either way! 3

_**ONIDA!**_

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Madarame-Ikkaku of the 3rd seat!" Several men bowed as Ikkaku walked by. He swiftly strolled by them and it wasn't until he was already a few feet away from them that he replied to the greeting lazily.

It was a warm summer's day; the sun was hot and bright, the insects sang happily and the air was hot and dry. Ikkaku sighed and walked out of the comfort of the eleventh division office and out into the searing heat. It was immediately unpleasant, but walked on to the twelfth division next door. He'd been summoned, along with every other captain and vice captain in the entire place. What information could possibly have such urgency was far beyond him. All he knew was that if every captain and vice captain had to be there then it had to something. He weaved his way through the maze like structures and, after several long minutes, found himself in front of the main office of the neighboring division.

He walked up to someone working there, "Oi, I'm Madarame Ikkaku. I was supposed to report here," The guy's eyes widened and he immediately nodded his head and escorted him to a conference room within the building. He bowed and left Ikkaku inside a room full of people that stared at him as soon as he walked in. The only people he recognized were his own captain and vice captain and an old acquaintance of his named Abarai Renji, now the Vice Captain of squad six.

"Greetings, Madarame-san," Yamamoto Sou-tiachou greeted him formally, "If you would please have a seat, we'd like to explain to you why you're here," Ikkaku obeyed and kept his eyes focused on the old man, "Now I'm aware of the…incident, that occurred some time ago with you and several others and I want to know a few details straight from you, as you were the only person to actually witness such events," Ikkaku clenched his fists and bit his lip out of anxiety, "Did you witness the death of Aoiyuki Kiyoko?" He nodded, not willing himself to speak for fear of his voice cracking, "I see. Are you absolutely sure of this?" He nodded once more.

"Don't lie, boy!" Kurostuchi Mayuri of the twelfth division spoke out, "Did you literally see the last of her breath exhale?! Was she a bloody corpse on the floor?! What?! Did you leave without fully knowing if she died or not?!"

Ikkaku grit his teeth as the captain went on. His fists clenched until they bled. He couldn't take anymore from such a miserable scumbag, "YES, ALRIGHT?! I SAW HER FALL TO HER DEATH!! I SAW IT WITH MY OWN TWO EYES!! WHY AND WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW SO BAD?!" His spiritual pressure was skyrocketing along with his anger, but he immediately began to calm down after his outburst.

"Madarame-san," Yamamoto started again, "Though what you say may be true, we find another fact…difficult to believe ourselves," He cast a downward glance to several papers in front of him.

"What do you mean?" He narrowed his eyes.

Yamamoto sighed, "Madarame-san, please try to keep calm when I tell you,"

"Tell me what?"

"That you have a daughter, Madarame-san,"

"…" Ikkaku's look remained blank. Had he heard right? "Nani? I'm afraid I didn't hear you correctly," Several captains in the room closed their eyes in annoyance at his denial. Most other captains looked away nervously or smiled awkwardly for the poor guy.

Yamamoto passed a paper down to Ikkaku, "She lies within a branch of the shinigami academy far from this area that consists of only girls and other women. And, yes, she is a product of both you and Aoiyuki-san. I had Kurostuchi check the DNA results many times. I'm afraid there's no mistaking it,"

Ikkaku's eyes frantically scanned the paper multiple times, hoping that each time he read it there would be a different result, "…But…HOW?! That's impossible! I-I saw her die! And even before that she never- Is that even possible!? We're shinigami! Isn't any spirit incapable of reproduction?!"

"Madarame-kun," Koyruaku of the eighth division addressed him calmly, "You saw her _fall_. Not pass on. And it's also possible that she could've been pregnant in the time prior to the incident. And about spirits being incapable of reproduction is true in most cases _except_…" He scratched his cheek in thought lightly, "Kurostuchi, could you explain that one?"

He scoffed but spoke up, "That's true, but one out of every few million spirits gains this gift. There has to be some kind of cycle. You see when a spirit from soul society is reborn into the human world; they could more than likely get eaten by hollows for their unusual spiritual pressure. Now if this continued then eventually, in a long run, spirits would slowly die out or greatly decrease. So in order to keep this cycle from ending, a natural phenomenon appears to give birth to new spirits. We label these spirits as "Pure" because they're purely new and untouched by the world of humans. It would seem that she was one of these rare phenomena. And I didn't even get to study her!"

Ikkaku threw a nasty glance at him, but returned his eyes back to the paper. There, printed on the paper itself was a picture of his so-called daughter. He gulped. She looked almost exactly like Kiyoko…except for her eyes. She had his dark eyes and her hair was up in a ponytail and out of the way of her face. Her features were that of what the living world would call a 'teenager'. He looked at the rest of her profile. He noted that her blood type was the same as his and that she was a little on the tall side for girls her age; five feet and five inches. Her stats altogether were nearly off the charts, but her exceptional areas were swordsmanship and strategic fighting. He smirked to himself and thought how his abilities with a sword were incredible, but so was Kiyoko's strategic ability in battle. In fact, if he remembered correctly, her analyzing and planning abilities for battles were, in fact, pretty damn scary. Madarame Haruko, he pronounced inside his mind. The name _seemed_ like it would be something she would pick. Ikkaku sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Madarame-san," Yamamoto addressed him again, "Every several hundred years, the Thirteen Court Squad Guards visit this institute and analyze their growth progress. To check if they're doing their part, if you will. Would you and Ayasegawa-san be interested in accompanying along to this branch?"

Ikkaku hesitated a moment, "I suppose…demo nande? And why Yumichika, too, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I wish for the both of you to observe signs that she is indeed who she claims to be. The both of you knew Aoiyuki-san well, I presume?"

"Yeah,"

"Then it's settled," Yamamoto adjourned the meeting.

_()()Several Days Later()()_

"Oi! Haru-chan! Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!" Madarame Haruko scrunched up her eyes and pulled the covers far over her head, "Aw C'mon, Haru-chan! Wake up! You're gonna miss breakfast!"

"Mm!" The black haired girl groaned underneath the covers, indicating that she'd prefer to be left alone.

"Y' know," She sat down beside her friend and pushed her with her foot occasionally, "Those thirteen court guard shinigami are supposed to be coming over today…" She got no outward reaction from her friend, but she smirked and knew Haruko was listening, "I heard they're mostly captains and vice captains…really strong…" Haruko was somewhat listening. She really was interested, but she knew her friend was trying to tease her awake and it was working…for the most part. The girl sighed and grew impatient, "C'mon, Haru! The old hag is gonna be pissed if you don't wake up before they get here!" Still no reaction. She sighed and pulled out her trump card, "There's hamachi waiting for you!"

Haruko sat up immediately, "I'm awake," Her friend almost laughed at her appearance. Her hair was in loose tangles and slightly frizzy and her eyes were still adjusting to the sudden change of light rays. She blinked several times and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. She looked over to her friend lazily, "…There isn't any hamachi is there?"

She giggled, "Of course there is. If there wasn't then I wouldn't have said it!" Haruko smiled at her brown haired friend. Her chestnut reddish-brown hair was short in the back, but as it made it's way to the front it reach down past her shoulders just slightly. Her almost red contrast highlighted her soft grey-blue eyes. She wore the traditional shinigami uniform of black, but her obi was blue, indicating her rank in the particular branch. Her healthy complexion added to her bright smile.

"Well then! I guess I'll go get me some breakfast!" Haruko threw the covers off of herself and stood up.

"I don't think so!" The brunette quickly threw a pillow at her head, knocking her friend to the floor, "Get ready first! If you're not ready before those shinigami get here then the old lady will blame _me_!"

"Demo, Reina," Haruko whined and crawled up to her feet and grabbed onto her ankles, hugging them, "My tummy is growling! Can't you hear it? It's yelling 'feed me now!'" As if on queue, her stomach growled fiercely, "See?" She rubbed her cheek on Reina's shin, "Reinaaaaaa! Onegaiiiiiii!"

Reina sighed, "You're wasting time. You probably could've been down there eating by now if you hadn't of been so lazy and complaining on the floor where you still are!" She growled at Haruko on the floor, still calling out her name and pleading, "HARU, GET UP!!"

_()()()()_

"Eh? So you're him, neh?" Her raspy aging voice cut through his ears like a saw through flexi-glass.

"Ah," Ikkaku nodded at the old hag. She was old and slightly hunched over, like Yamamoto sou-taichou. She had wrinkles everywhere and several aging spots on her hands. Her hakama pants were red while her haori was white and a soft red shawl draped atop of her shoulders. Even though she was old, her eyes said otherwise. Her eyes were full of fire and determination that said 'I still got some fight left in me!'.

"Madarame-san. Ayasegawa-san," Yamamotou came forward, "This is Hayabusa Hiyori. She's the leader, caretaker, and head captain at the all female shinigami institute,"

"Yoroshku onegaishimasu," They bowed to her out of respect.

"Ehhh?" She closed in on Ikkaku's face and studied him carefully. Ikkaku fought every urge in his body to pull away from her old lady musky, spicy smell. She scoffed and took several steps backwards, "She's just like you. I can tell already," Ikkaku's eye twitched in annoyance and Yumichika bit his thumb to keep from laughing, "So I hear that you've chosen to remain silent about this whole ordeal. Meaning you don't want her to know who you are?" Her eyes narrowed at him.

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Souka," She turned around with her hands behind her hunched back, "Everyone follow me then. It'll take a little over an our to get there and the forest does tend to get a little confusing now and then. Don't wander,"

It was actually almost two hours before they reached the girls academy! It turned out that her and Yamamoto go way back…way….way back. It also turns out that they didn't get along very well, which meant they strayed from Hiyori's directions several times from heated arguments between the two. When they finally reached the edge of the forest, they were filled with silent relief. The warm summer breeze rolled along the tall grass in the clearing just in front of the academy. It was much like the court of pure souls, but there wasn't any 'maze' of walls. The only real maze was not knowing which building was what. They entered the front building and were greeted by several women standing at a booth inside. Everyone removed their shoes before entering on the clean, laminate hardwood. Hiyori spoke to one of the women at the booth harshly, "Oi, where's Madarame? Have you seen her today?"

The girls looked at one another, slightly concerned, "Ano…" One of them began, "I think she's in the cafeteria at the moment,"

"Nani? Early lunch?"

"Iie," The other one smiled nervously, "Late…breakfast…"

"Ohhhh?" The two girls stiffened, knowing all-too well the tone of voice in their caretaker, "Souka. Continue your work then," She walked off to the cafeteria, others still following behind her, and entered.

"Ah Finally!" Hiyori heard Haruko's familiar voice drift through the nearly empty hallways. She stood behind the girl with a pair of chopsticks in hand and as soon as Haruko picked up a piece of hamachi, she snatched it away viciously and ate it, "Eh?!" Haruko turned around and saw her leader chewing on the piece she'd just picked up, "N-nande…oni-baba?" Her hand was shaking with frustration.

"What's this about a late breakfast, Madarame? How long were you sleeping?" She glared down at Haruko viciously.

"Not long, oni-baa, I swear it," She attempted to pick up another piece of hamachi, but that was snatched away too, "Oni-baba,"

"What's with this 'oni-baba'?! How much disrespectful can you get?! You haven't even greeted my guests politely!" Haruko stood up and bowed low to the twenty-eight shinigami she'd suddenly just noticed. Her face held that of a horrified look as she watched Hiyori devour the rest of her hamachi, "Now," She chewed and swallowed the rest of it, "I want you to take them around the area. Show them whatever it is they want to see. Got it?" She glared and began to walk away.

"D-Demo,"

"No 'buts'!" She shouted and walked out of sight.

"Ya…Yada…" Haruko hung her head heavily in defeat. 'All I wanted was my hamachi' she thought mournfully. She heard a fake cough, breaking her from her depressing thought about food. She immediately cheered up and put on a fake smile that fooled almost everyone she met, "Good afternoon, everyone! You must be tired from your walk here. Would anyone like anything?" She hated being fake, but if she wasn't 'polite' to the guests the old hag would have her head on a platter next to the yellowtail.

"No, thank you," Yamamoto spoke up for all of them, "Could you please escort us, first, to your training grounds?"

"As you wish," She nodded and began walking, "This way please," She sighed as they were going down the hall.

"Oi! Haru-chan! How was your breakfast?" A girl with green hair called down from a higher balcony when they walked down the hallway in the outside area. Her green hair trailed all the way down to her waist and was held in the back with a small yellow ribbon. Around her waist was a yellow obi that highlighted her pale green eyes and healthy complexion.

"I don't know," She called out flatly, "Oni-baba ate it before I had a chance,"

"WHAT?!" She held up a balled fist and clenched her teeth, "I worked hard to cut that goddamn fish for you!"

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't eat it, Shizu-chan!" She smiled nervously and placed her hand behind her head.

"Don't be sorry! Konno! If I ever get the chance!" She growled and walked away, cursing.

Haruko chuckled to herself and continued walking, her mood slightly lighter, "Who was that, Madarame-chan?" Haruko looked back at the one who'd addressed her. His hair was just above his shoulders and cut neatly. Two sets of different colored feathers stuck out from the corner of his right eye.

"Kimiyoshi Shizuka-chan, umm…" She hesitated, indicating that she didn't know how to address him.

He smiled brightly, "Ayasegawa Yumichika. Yoroishku!"

She bowed slightly in return, "Yoroshku, Ayasegawa-san," She turned around and continued walking.

"Neh, neh! Haru-haru!" The pink haired vice captain of squad eleven tugged on the bow of her red obi, "When we get to the training grounds wanna play a game of tag? It'll be fun! Oh and by the way, my name's Kusajishi Yachiru!"

She smiled lightly at the little girl, "Ah. Yoroshku, Yachiru-chan. And I don't know if I'd be allowed to play at the moment,"

"Demo!"

"Oi," A deep, gruffy voice called, "Yachiru," She looked back and ran back to Kenpachi's shoulder. Haruko turned around and continued to walk them to the training area once more.

"Ano," A gentle, womanly voice spoke up; Unohana of the fourth division, "Madarame-san, I noticed that shinigami here have obi of a few select color variety. Would you care to explain why that is?"

"Ah, hai," She replied without stopping or turning around this time, "Here, in this place instead of squad numbers, we have five different colored obi for the women that work here. White, being the lowest, is for students and servants; Yellow, the second lowest, is for the lower class fighters; blue, is for the higher class fighters; purple, is for vice captain class fighters, and red," She stopped at a wide area, full of nothing but dirt surrounded by the buildings. Against the walls were a variety of weapons to use when sparring, "Red obis are for the captain class fighters. And that's as high as it gets around here,"

"Soudeska," Unohana noted, "And I see your obi is red, along with your hair ribbon. Does that mean…?"

"Hai," She answered without turning around to meet their gaze, "I am considered strong enough to be of captain class. Of course that's by Oni-baba's standards, not Seireitei,"

"Oh? So you're saying you may not be as strong as one of our captains?" Kenpachi smirked with excitement, "Well why don't I fight you and you can see," He gripped the hilt of his sword and took a step forward.

Feeling his killing intent rise rapidly, Haruko narrowed her eyes and glared. She quickly gripped her own sword and turned to meet his gaze. Her glare was as cold as dry ice, almost as if it could burn you up on the spot. She didn't want to fight another captain, but she acted on instinct the moment he let his reiratsu loose. She honestly had no control over such instincts, even when she told herself moments later after acting to stop and calm down, she wasn't able to. Large bursts of hostile reiratsu made her irritable and hostile herself. It would probably make most anyone irritable, considering the circumstance of her past.

"Enough!" Yamamoto's strong voice cut through the screams within her mind and through Kenpachi's focus, "Zaraki-taichou, there is to be no sparring, without my consent, while on this assignment! Do I make myself clear?" Kenpachi grunted and took the hand off of his zanpakutou, letting his massive spirit force die down. Haruko slowly let her hand uncoil itself around the hilt of her sword, realizing he wasn't going to attack her, "Madarame-san, would you care to explain the curricular used in your daily exercise?"

Haruko kept her eyes narrowed at Kenpachi, "Ah. As you wish," She turned away from him angrily, "If you'll please wait several moments, the afternoon class should be walking in any minute. You'll be able to observe then,"

"Very well then," He nodded and they all waited. Several moments later, as promised, many girls with white obi began to file out into the court yard neatly. They chatted happily with one another as they waited for their instructor to command them in their daily training. Haruko looked at them distantly. Her relaxed hand at her side became slightly clenched, but relaxed once more. _'Nande…?'_ She thought to herself, _'Why am I the only one?'_

"Oi! Madarame!" A girl with green hair, up in a ponytail, stalked up to her. She had more of a boyish aura to her and her obi was blue instead of yellow, "Are those the seireitei shinigami?" She stopped right next to Haruko and looked back at all of their guests.

"Hai," Haruko replied without looking away from the court yard, still with a distant, thoughtful look.

"Sugoi! There are so many of you! Well! Yoroshku, minna-san!" She grinned widely and bowed.

"It's nice to meet you properly, Kimiyoshi Shizu-chan!" Koryuaku took her hand in his and kissed it, charmingly.

"Shizu?" The girl laughed loudly and whole-heartedly, "Gomen! Gomen! I probably should've introduced myself first!" She continued to laugh at the common mistake, "Shizu is my twin sister. My name's Mizu!"

"Ah! Souka! Gomen!" The eighth division captain apologized.

"It's not a problem," She waved it off like it was nothing, "Neh, Madarame," She turned around to meet her superior, "Should we really crack the whip on the students today?" She grinned maniacally. She stopped as she got no reply from the girl, "Madarame?" She placed a hand on Haruko's shoulder. Haruko turned her head around slightly so that Mizu could see the corner of her eye glare viciously, "Eeee!" Mizu quickly pulled her hand back and jumped away, "S-so I guess we should get started then!"

"Mizu,"

"H-Hai?"

"You take care of them today. Work them hard. I'm gonna go to the music room for a bit," She turned on her heel and stomped down the hallway, "Come get me when your done! I need to take the visitors around to other places!" She called and disappeared around the next corner.

Mizu sighed heavily, "Hey," She turned to the visiting shinigami, "Which one of you was the one that released all that murderous reiratsu?"

"Heh," Kenpachi grinned, "Why? You got something to say?"

"As a matter of fact, yes!" She snapped at him, "You may be our guests, but if any of the higher ranking officers and up find your behavior unacceptable we will ask you to leave and see that you are escorted out of here!" She glared, "Now I know you didn't mean the harm you've inflicted, but I advise you to not release such reiratsu around here again. All of you,"

"And what would be your reason for this lecture, Kimiyoshi-san?" Yamamoto was slightly irritated about being lectured by a kid (by his standards).

She calmed down and lowered her head slightly in thought, "Because Madarame acts on instinct when she senses that kind of spiritual pressure. She's not herself. I don't know why she's like that, but large amounts of hostile spirit pressure make her…different," She looked up and smiled nervously, "I'm actually trying to beg you more than anything. Please don't do it again," She shuddered, remembering the only time she'd seen Madarame Haruko act more like a demon, than the one she'd come to know. Her ravenous eyes bore into the depths of her very being, that day.

_()()()()_

She started playing so subtlety, but it gradually grew louder. Like a dim light within the darkness that was striving it's way to the surface. Then all at once the notes exploded into a rolling labyrinth of notes and measures that lost anyone within it's music. Her fingers danced gracefully and skillfully over the ivory keys. Sharps and naturals blended together smoothly as they sped up and slowed down. Without others to play with her it didn't sound as nice as it originally had, but it was still a song that made you imagine the darkest depths of your hearts and the most wondrous, imaginative places in your head. Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2, the humans called it. The name was far beyond her knowledge, but the music she understood just fine. Music was not something one had to continuously ponder on to play. It was simply notes on paper that translated the keys movements. Though once you had the music memorized, it was no longer about just ink on paper. Once the music was memorized, it was about playing it your own style. That was the fun of learning the piano.

Haruko smiled to herself as she continued to play. Somehow it always calmed her nerves to play. She supposed it was because she'd be able to act out how she felt without words or excessive movements (like throwing or punching things). It was feelings without expressions. Poetry without words. She sighed at herself. What was she an artisan? She quickly shook her head free of such thoughts and continued to focus on the piece she played.

"Oi, Madarameeeeeeeeeee!" She heard her name from down the hallway. She quickly pressed a few chords to end the song, stood up, and rushed out into the hall before anyone could see her sitting at the piano. Mizu greeted her casually, "Hey, I've finished with the first half of training today and they're ready to move on to something else,"

"I see,"

"So I guess I'll be leaving now," She turned around and stalked down the hallway, "Later!"

"I see…So you're finished with your training evaluation? It went well I presume?" Haruko looked to each of them. Mizu usually messed around with guests any chance she got, but considering how import these guests were she doubted that the green haired twin would attempt anything. She's never been on the receiving end of Hiyori's rage, but Haruko knew as well as anyone that she would always be the first to remove herself from the demon granny's fit of destruction.

"I'm afraid I cannot give you such information," Yamamoto replied sternly and calmly.

"Souka. Pardon my intrusion then," She bowed slightly in apology, "In any case, what would you-"

She stopped in mid sentence, feeling a slight change in the atmosphere's pressure. She turned her head to the nearest window and narrowed her eyes, subconsciously gripping her zanpakutou's scabbard. The hairs along the back of her neck stood on end and the skin along her shoulders crawled with discomfort. She bit the inside of her lip nervously. Now? Of all times?

"Is there something wrong, Madarame-chan?" Koyruaku leaned forward slightly, concerned.

"Ano…"

"BRAT!" Haruko winced slightly. Even though Hiyori was still down the hall, her voice was still as loud and scratchy as any other time, "Why are you hesitating?! Get out there and kill that hallow!"

"I did not think it _polite_ to leave our guests unattended," She glared at the old woman with distaste, "Besides. It doesn't even seem that strong. It's reiratsu is incredibly low. Even some of our weaker recruits would be able to handle it,"

As if by magic, Hiyori produced a piece of bamboo that was about a ruler and a half long and hit the back of Haruko's legs. She caught the young captain by surprise, causing her to gasp, though it didn't hurt her by much. She was plenty used to it by now, "Don't question me! Just get out there and command your kouhai then!"

()()()()

"Himawari, take the left; Shizu, take the backside; Mizu, charge in there; Reina, cover them," Haruko gave them general orders. It wasn't her problem if they didn't know how to approach an enemy. They passed their classes and are quite experienced, so she doubted they would need anymore help than each other. Houjou Himawari-chan, was one of the much younger shinigami. Despite her size, she was incredibly swift and clever. Her strategic battle techniques were pretty impressive, enough to earn her a blue obi. She could even surpass Haruko with enough effort and practice. Though, when they sparred together, using only their wits, most of Himawari's attacks came off as mere child's play; like they were playing a dangerous game of tag, but she was able to catch Haruko once or twice with her skill. She would stand there, 4'3", smirk, and laugh mockingly in victory. When she laughed, her canines made themselves visible just slightly, but they weren't the kind that constantly showed even if her mouth was closed. Her short blond hair had a few bangs on her forehead, but held it back with a small black ribbon, slightly like a headband, but with the bow on the side. She would smile so widely when she finally caught Haruko, that even her honey brown eyes seemed to glimmer.

Haruko sighed heavily. She knew they'd be just fine, but any kind of murderous intent made her anxious, even if it was small. She looked at the hollow's form. This hollow in particular took the form of some kind of giant ape with a dragon, or lizard-like, mask. It's skin was a shallow blue and it's chest had a clear hole in it right were the human heart should be. She sighed once more and balanced on her left foot and scratched the back of her neck. _One,_ She counted in her head as one of Himawari's traps went off, _Two_, Shizu slashed it's arm off as it was about to attack Reina, _Three_, Reina dogged and another attack and deflected it cero, _Done_, Mizu used shunpo to appear in front of the enemy and slice it's mask in half. The hallow immediately disintegrated into spirit particles.

"Yahoou!" Mizu threw her fist in the air and cheered while the other three laughed at her excitement. Haruko crossed her arms and allowed herself the faintest of smiles, but her anxiety refused to cease. There was still something in the back of her mind that told her to attack.

"Ehh," Koyruaku held onto his hat as a gentle breeze blew, one that couldn't possible lift it, "Pretty impressive. Their teamwork skills are impressive,"

"Their ability to sustain damage is also worth commenting," Unohana smiled.

"Don't forget their fighting," Ukitake spoke up, "Their movements are swift and strong," Most others nodded in agreement.

"It so happens that these shinigami right here were all personally trained by Madarame Haruko," Hiyori closed her eyes, to avoid any eye contact.

"Eh? Souka?" Kyoruaku exclaimed in surprise.

"Heh," Kenpachi smirked, "Then you must be pretty strong yourself, kid," Haruko shot him a dirty look and narrowed her eyes dangerously. She knew he was given orders not to start any fights, but his presence was constantly putting her on edge because of his reiratsu from earlier. It was enormous, yet she was able to tell that he was holding most back. Kenpachi frowned, "What? I just gave you a compliment! Be a little more grateful!" She scoffed and turned her attention back to her chattering kouhai, "You little-,"

Yachiru giggled from her position on his shoulder, "I don't think she likes you very much, Ken-chan!"

"Madarame-san, I would find it rather intriguing if you would demonstrate the extent of your abilities for us," Yamamoto requested, "I, personally, would like to know how powerful this academy has become since our last visit. And it seems, Hiyori-baa holds you in high esteem when it comes to such a feat,"

Hiyori twitched, but said nothing about his comment. She cleared her raspy old throat and agreed, "Yes. I suppose I don't have much of a choice. Madarame!" She turned her head to Haruko and yelled.

Haruko clenched her fist and grit her teeth, "I'm right here. You don't need to yell so loud. I'm not deaf!"

She hit Haruko's arm with the bamboo stick, "Don't get sassy with me! You are to fight one of them!"

"What's this?" Yamamoto opened his eyes and glared at Hiyori, "I never agreed to this spar! Have her fight one of your other captain class fighters!"

"Imbecile!" Hiyori shouted in his face, "She's amongst the elite! She'd barely lift a finger to defeat them! Spare one of yours!"

The two began to bicker heavily. Haruko stared absent mindedly and sighed, '_Old people…' _ She shook her head and spaced out for a minute before Hiyori yelled at her yet again, "What?" She replied, irritable and lazy.

The old lady whacked her on the arm again, "Don't take that tone with me! You'll be fighting Zaraki Kenpachi! It's just a sparring match, so don't go overboard! You do and it'll be your head above my fireplace!"

She sighed, "Yeah, sure," She casually walked out into the field, a good distance away from everyone else.

Yamamoto turned to Kenpachi seriously, "Contain yourself, Zaraki. I don't want this to end in bloodshed,"

"Heh," Kenpachi pulled out his rusted zanpakutou and began to walk out into the field as well, opposite of Haruko, "I'll try, but if she's as strong as I think she is, I won't promise anything," He faced her and grinned maniacally, "Ya ready kid? Don't think that just because you're a little girl, that I'll go easy on you,"

She took a fighting stance, ready to unsheathe her zanpakutou, "I didn't expect you to," She narrowed her dark eyes and glared. Madarame Haruko, definitely didn't like this guy.

_**ONIDA!**_

Yay! End of Chapter one! Stay tuned for Chapter two! In the mean time how's a bout a Japanese lesson?

Oni-baba/Oni-baa: Demon Granny

Baba: Granny.

Yoroshku/ Yoroshku onegaishimasu: Nice to meet you/ Pleasure to meet you.

Hamachi: Yellowtail Tuna. Usually served raw (sashimi or sushi style. I love the sashimi style best…yum)

Haori: the 'shirt'

Hakama: The 'pants'

Yada: No(whining. As in 'I can't believe this is happening' no).

Demo: But

Nande: Why.

….Anything I missed? If so, message me if it really bugs you and you wanna know what that word means. (sweat drop)

REVIEW PLEASE! I love seeing emails that say I've been favorite-ed or story alert, but I love reviews and opinions more!

-Mori-chan!


	2. Chapter 2

Mori: Woo! Here's an update for my lovelies! Thanks Koi No Mega Lover for your enormous support and for reviewing! I really appreciate it! As for the rest of you! REVIEW! I know you're out there darn it! I get messages in my inbox! I know ALL! O.o

(Shakes bootay and dances around) Enjoy the next chappie! AND REVIEW!

_**ONIDA! WATASHI WA ONIDA!**_

"Heh," Kenpachi smirked in his usual crazy way. He stood tall, zanpakutou drawn, but lazily held at his side. He stared at Haruko intently; into her eyes. His body began to tremble with excitement and his mind raced with memories. He looked straight into her eyes and in a flash, Ikkaku appeared before him in his mind's eye, but quickly changed back to the image of Haruko. "Heh," He smiled to himself, '_It's like fighting Ikkaku again,_'

"Hajime!" Reina raised her arm in the air and threw it downwards as a signal to begin the match.

Haruko kept her hand on the hilt of her zanpakutou, weary of his movements.

"I'll tell you what, kid," Kenpachi dug the tip of his sword in the ground next to him and opened up his hakama wide enough to reveal his scarred chest, "I'll let you take the first hit. I'll even forget about your little attitude from earlier if you can put a scratch on me,"

"Are you insane?" She narrowed her eyes further, if it was even possible anymore by this point, "Of course I'll be able to put a scratch on you! You'll be bleeding all over the grass!"

Kenpachi laughed loudly and threw his head back, "Well lets just see about that. And if you really can, then you just won the upper hand,"

The blood-lusted look in his good eye was enough to drive Haruko's instincts into frenzy. She grit her teeth, trying to fight herself from losing control. _Do it_, the voice in the back of her mind commanded her, _Cut him down! He's offering_, Haruko's grip around her zanpakutou tightened with ferocity. _DO IT!_ Haruko snapped and her eyes narrowed into cat-like slits while her irises became a much lighter shade of black, almost a grayish-blue. With excellent footwork, and amazing speed, she appeared directly in front of him, raised her zanpakutou high and brought it down heavily. The sound of metal stopping rang through the air. Haruko's eyes slowly went back to normal out of shock and surprise as the blade of her sword rested on the skin of his chest.

Kenpachi gave her another maniac grin, "Heh. Nice try. I liked the look in your eye just now. It was blood curdling," Kenpachi grabbed his zanpakutou and swiftly attacked her. Haruko was caught slightly off guard, still in shock that her sword didn't cut him, and fell back and off to the side just a few feet behind the entire evaluation group. Everyone turned to look at her curiously. Hiyori was somewhat surprised at the fact that her strongest fighter had been taken down with a single shot. Haruko balanced on her left knee while her right foot was bent at an angle to stop her from going back any further. The sound of blood splattering on the ground filled their ears and long blades of grass bent slightly under the weight of the crimson liquid. The dust that stirred, settled down silently after a few moments. Haruko's eyes were shadowed by her bangs, leaving her expressionless, "What's the matter, kid? Give up already?" Haruko stood up, gripping her zanpakutou in her right hand, and kept her eyes shadowed.

She placed her left hand on her right shoulder and stretched her neck to the opposite side, attempting to crack it, "It's been a while," Her voice was much different that it had been earlier. It was more mature and deadly serious, "It's been a long time since I had such a strong opponent," She closed her eyes and sighed, "I guess I'll have to get serious," She reopened them and revealed her dark, grayish-blue, cat-like eyes. The guest shinigami's eyes widened slightly with interest and surprise. Haruko's arm was bleeding heavily, but she paid no attention to it.

"Look, kid, I admire your fighting spirit," Kenpachi craned his neck in her direction lazily and frowned, "But I'm afraid, unfortunately, I was given specific orders. If this goes on any further I may end up killing y-" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before it was his turn to bleed all over the field.

"You were saying?" She grinned evilly at him and held up her zanpakutou to show his blood running down the length of the metallic object.

Again he laughed like a maniac, "Hey, you're pretty good! I honestly didn't think you'd be able to cut me," He ignored the cut in his shoulder that bled profusely and attacked her without question. She blocked his sword with her own; sparks flew from his rusted piece of metal. They both stood their ground; swords locked, feet digging into the ground, "Are you sure about this, kid? I might end up killing you by accident. Sometimes I just can't help it," He smirked at her and pushed on their hold a little, making her fall back a few centimeters.

"Stop patronizing me! And like hell you'll be able to kill me! I won't die!" She pushed back with superfluous strength, causing him to back down a several centimeters himself, "I refuse to die until I kill that person," He was caught off guard by her statement. Haruko took this as an opening and hit him in the face with another object that caught him by surprise yet again.

He released their hold and wiped his bleeding forehead, "Heh. You're just full of surprises aren't you?" He definitely wasn't expecting this.

"All's fair in love and war," She shrugged and placed her swords scabbard back in her obi belt.

"I never said it wasn't fair. I just said you were full of surprises," _'She's just like him,_' He thought before raising his sword again.

"Enough!" Yamamoto's voice boomed out at them, "This was meant to be a simple spar! Not a full on battle with bloodshed! Enough of this!"

Hiyori looked at her old 'friend'curiously, "Shige-san," She used his first name for the first time in ages, "You know, she can handle more than you think,"

"I understand that," Yamamoto replied in a stubborn voice, "But I did not come here to cause serious injury or bloodshed,"

"Understood then," Hiyori placed her hands behind her hunched over back and grabbed one wrist with the other hand to hold it. She always fought with the stubborn old goat, but she knew when to be a mature adult even with him, "MADARAME!" Her voice was just as loud as Yamamoto's, "Enough! Get back inside and clean yourself up!"

Haruko turned and gave her a sharp glare with her, still, cat-like eyes, "Demo-!"

"Demo janaiyo!" She cut the younger girl off, "I said that's enough! So get back in there and fix up that wound!"

Haruko growled, but obeyed. She shunpoed out of there before anyone could say anything else.

"Ch. Ungrateful little-,"

"Anosaa," Ikkaku spoke up after all this time, "Hayabusa-san,"

"Nani?" Hiyori faced him.

"If you don't mind me asking," He looked straight into her eyes, "I've been wondering this for some time now, but…how exactly did you come across her?"

Hiyori looked at him sharply. She stared long and hard. Finally, she sighed, "Lets move to a more comfortable place inside. It's very hot out here," She then turned to Kenpachi, "And we'll get someone to fix up that wound for you,"

_**()()()()()**_

"This is Konohana Sakura. She's a vice captain class and my top medical healer," Hiyori introduced a girl that stood around five feet, possibly just a few inches shorter than Haruko. Her short pink hair reached her shoulders and her amethyst eyes sparkled brightly with fire and the ferocity of inner determination. Her shinigami uniform was standard, complete with a purple obi around her waist.

She bowed in respect, "Yoroshu onegaishimasu,"

Hiyori glared, "Heal him," She waved a hand in Kenpachi's direction. Sakura complied without complaint or even so much as a dirty glance at the way she commanded her, "And hurry up and get out! We need to discuss important matters!" As soon as she fixed up Kenpachi's shoulder she bowed quickly and left, all the while keeping her composed expression. She sipped her tea calmly, Ikkaku sitting directly across from her. He was, after all, the one she had to do all the explaining to. She sighed heavily and set her cup down on the table, "So, you wanna know how I found her, eh?" She chuckled and looked at what was left of her tea, "Back then, I handled a lot of important, personal, matters myself. If someone wasn't cooperating with my system on this side of soul society, I went out and dealt with it myself. I was a bit short handed back then. Well, anyway, while on my assignment I noticed something a bit wrong on my way back. The entire section was either empty and trashed or filled with people mourning. Naturally, I'm curious, so I wandered through a few streets and attempted to ask people what happened, but every one I asked refused to give me an answer. They all just kept crying like babies," She took another sip of tea, "It was winter, mind you, there was snow everywhere. It was at the corner of my eye that I saw something bright in the snow. I couldn't tell from so far away down the street, but I pretty much guessed what it was. I ran down that street in a panic; refusing to believe what I thought I'd seen,"

"What did you see, or think you saw at the time?" Yumichika, to Ikkaku's right, spoke up.

"Blood," Her eyes pierced his, "It was a small trickle of it flowing through the corner, but I was sure that's what it was," She turned her attention back to Ikkaku, "As I got closer to turning the corner to the next block, I heard distinct sobbing. A child's sobs. When I finally turned that corner, it was nothing but a bloody massacre. A real mess. There were corpses sprawled out on the floors and over object and even over rooftops for crying out loud," She took another sip of tea, "Any normal person would have nightmares for weeks just looking at the bloody mess. The condition of the bodies was another few months worth of nightmares. I walked down the street, staring in awe at everything and being weary of any enemies that could've possibly still been in the area. When I was walking down that street, that pitiful sobbing only grew worse. I finally stopped in front of one of the houses and poked my head in to where I thought it was coming from, but there was no one in that house particular. I realized that it was coming from behind the house, outside," Hiyori paused and swirled the remaining tea around in the cup. She scoffed and closed her eyes.

"What?" Ikkaku raised his eyebrow.

"You shoulda seen your kid," She noted his subtle flinch at her last sentence, "She's nothing like the girl you've seen now,"

"What happened?" Yumichika voiced.

"I went around back and I saw only two bodies," She held up two fingers with the same hand she held her cup in, "One alive and one dead…The little girl was kneeling in the snow, crying next to the dead body. When I asked her what had happened, she turned towards me, eyes full of tears; face, hands and clothes all bloodstained; and just whimpered and stuttered out 'ano hito' over and over until she broke down in heavier tears," She drank the rest of her tea that was now cold, "I asked who she was crying over, who's body it was, she said it was her mother's," She sighed heavily and turned her cup upside down on the table, "I took her in from there, making her apart of this academy at a very young age. And _every single time_ I ask her, or try to at least, about that day, all she does is grit her teeth and mumble something like 'ano hito'. To this day I don't know why that section was massacred or who did it. No one dares to speak of it, even if I try to bribe them,"

"What about her mother?" Unohana spoke up, "She wouldn't say anything about her mother? Does she ever even talk about her? Memories perhaps?"

"Look," Hiyori was old, she had to face it, she was tired, "If you want anymore information about that brat, then you'd have to ask her yourself. She doesn't talk about her past, not much about herself, and certainly not about her mother," She stood up, "Now if you would please finish evaluating, Yama-jiji, I'm not much older myself and am tired. I'll leave you with Madarame again; have her show you whatever else you need and be on your way,"

"And what could you be doing that is possibly more important than escorting us, baba?" Yamamoto opened his eyes curiously at her, nearly glaring.

Hioyri looked at him innocently, hands behind her back as she stood in the open doorway, "Hm? Why taking my after noon nap of course. I'm nearly as old as you are, but I still need my beauty rest," She grinned and showed her somewhat healthy teeth with several missing. The entire group sweat dropped.

_**()()()()()**_

"Ooooi!" Koryuaku called from across the cafeteria, "Madarame-Chaaa-aaan! Konichiwaaaa!"

Haruko's inner alarm went off and her eye twitched when she saw him run through an imaginary field of pink shaded bubbles. His vice captain, Ise Nanao, whacked his face with a book and watched him fall to the ground, all the while adjusting her ovular glasses. Haruko sweat dropped and took another bite of her onigiri.

"Neh, neh, Haru-haru!" Yachiru appeared to her left and tugged on her sleeve. Haruko nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise, "Haru-haru! Will you play a game of tag with me? Ken-chan had fun playing with you! Now it's my turn!" The shinigami seated themselves at the long cafeteria table, ready to listen to anything she had to say. Yamamoto had made it clear what their real assignment was.

"Ano," Haruko smiled awkwardly, "Maybe another time. I'm kinda hungry…" She stared at little Yachiru, "Yachiru-chan?"

"Hm? Nani?" Yachiru smiled brightly, swinging her legs back and forth on the bench.

"Do you like sweets?" She nibbled on a piece of onigiri.

"Yep! I love sweets!" She threw her arms in the air and exclaimed loudly, "Haru-haru, do you like sweets?! What's your favorite kind? What flavor? Do-" Haruko silenced Yachiru with a piece of bubble gum. Yachiru chewed and chewed…and chewed….and chewed. The young girl was vastly entertained with the pink stick.

"What candy was that? I've never seen such a piece," Kuchiki Byakuya of the sixth squad directed the question at her.

Haruko finished the last of her onigiri, "It's called 'gum' and it's from the human world,"

"You've been to the human world?!" Hisagi Shuhei exclaimed.

Haruko nodded her head in reply, "Several times,"

"Eh?" Matsumoto Rangiku leaned forward in awe, "What's it like now? I haven't been down there since my days starting off as a shinigami,"

"It's strange," She shrugged as if it were nothing.

"Oh? Say, how long you been 'n th's place anyway?" Ichimaru Gin grinned at her like he does to anyone else.

"A while," She shrugged them off. She had a feeling they were about to get personal.

"Have you lived here your whole life, or was there some other place before this branch?" Kira Izuru asked this time.

Haruko smiled at them, fully annoyed by now, "Now aren't we all just nosey-bodies!" Her eyebrow twitched. Everyone backed off a bit, feeling her reiratsu rise just slightly.

"Neh, neh, haru-chan!" Yachiru tugged on her sleeve again, "Do you have anymore candy? I swallowed it,"

Haruko sweat dropped, "You weren't supposed to swallow it. You were supposed to just chew it until it ran out of flavor and spit it out once it got old,"

"Eh? Nande?" Yachiru frowned and tilted her head.

"I dunno," She shrugged, "That's just the way it works. I don't think it'll do anything to you since it is supposed to be edible after all," She dug into her sleeve and pulled out a bag of chips, which Yachiru took happily and began to devour.

"Neh, Haru-chan?" Yachiru asked with her cheeks bulging from food. Haruko looked down at her with a smile since the pink haired girl was the only person not to take interest in the past, "Where's your momma and pappa?" Haruko kept smiling, but she mentally broke down.

"Hora, Yachiru-chan, that's not a very fair question. I barely know you! Why would I tell you something like that?" Haruko laughed nervously.

"Eh?" Yachiru stared at her seriously for a moment, thoughtful, "I know! How about I tell you about my parents?! Then you can tell me about yours!" Her eyes lit up with excitement.

"I don't think-"

"Ok, well it all started when I was _really_ little! Smaller than I am now-"

"Yachiru-chan-" Haruko attempted to stop her, but Yachiru would hear none of it. She continued with her story of Kenpachi finding her and naming her and so on. Haruko spaced out and nearly drooled on the table out of boredom. Sure, she took a liking to the cute kid, but she really couldn't care less about what happened to her and how she met Kenpachi.

"There! All done!" She threw her hands in the air once she was finished and turned to Haruko, "Your turn, Haru-neechan!"

Haruko sighed in annoyance, "Why should I tell you anything? I didn't even agree to hear your story," She closed her eyes and brought up her palm for her chin to lean on.

"Eh? That's not fair! I already told you everything!" Yachiru pouted, "You coulda said something before I started!"

"I did. Or at least tried to," She shrugged, "You wouldn't stop talking…Oi, Sakura!" She averted her eyes to the open door, "Stop eavesdropping!"

Konohana Sakura, vice captain level and medical expert, appeared in the doorway and entered the room with a coy smile, "I barely heard anything! And besides I wanted to tell you, that I think you might want to go help Miki-chan. She looks like she's about to burn down half the building out in the training yard again,"

"What?!" She jumped up, "Goddamn it! I told her not to do any fire based kidou when I'm not around!" She turned to the seated shinigami, bowed, and ran off in a hurry.

"How much did you hear, child?" Yamamoto asked politely.

"Enough," Sakura continued to smile the same way, "If you're looking for information about Haruko-chama, I'll tell you right now. Don't dig any further. You're wasting your time," She crossed her arms and let her smile fade, "No one knows anything about why she is the way she is when she's fighting, or how exactly the old hag took her in. She's a complete mystery to all of us and you won't find anymore information than what demon granny had to give you," Violet eyes glared at them in disgust, "I'm her oldest and closest friend and even I don't know anything,"

"Souka," Yamamoto let her words sink in for a moment, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we need some sort of answer to our questions. I won't leave until I have them,"

Sakura was quiet for a short moment, "Souka. Ja, I'll give you a warning then," She gave them the scariest look she could muster, "If you do anything to harm her, physically or mentally, I won't hesitate to go after any one of you," She looked at each one carefully, turned on her heal, and left the room.

Yamamoto scoffed once she was out of earshot. There was no way a mere child could intimidate him, especially since they meant no harm in the first place.

_**()()()()()**_

_-Flashback-_

"_Okasan!" A very small Haruko ran outside to her mother, her bare feet sinking in the snow._

"_Get back inside, Haruko!" Kiyoko yelled at her child, sword drawn, and facing her opponent. Her side was stained from blood and her blood tainted the pure white snow at her feet._

_The man smirked maliciously and advanced towards Haruko, "Yes, little, Haruko, you should do what mother tells you," His voice was deep and misty. As if a cloud of harmful gases slowly descended silently._

_Haruko's eyes grew wide with fear and she backed away each step he took towards her. The image of her mother's back appeared before her eyes. And then…there was blood._

_-End Flashback-_

"EEEK!" A girl with short black hair screamed, bringing Haruko from her thoughts, "It's on fire! It's on fire!"

An anger vein appeared on Haruko's head, "DAMN IT, MIKI!"

_**ONIDA! WATASHI WA ONIDA!**_

Mori: Wee! So there's chapter two! Hope you all enjoyed! X3

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! I CAN'T STRESS THAT ENOUGH!

If it makes any difference, I reply to each review personally! (sweat drop)


	3. Chapter 3

Mori: Hey! You know what time it is? FUN FACT TIME! WOOOO! Today's fun fact of the day is! suddenly unenthusiastic Did you know I lose my confidence if I don't get reviews and chapters start coming later and later? Yeah, bet you're regretting not reviewing now huh? Seriously though, I'm depressed as it is and I need some self-confidence boosters about my stories. Even a flame, at this point, would make my day because at least you're taking the time to comment on my stories.

shrugs What can I say? I'm an attention whore; I want someone to notice. sweat drop I've always been so invisible. sniffle

heavy sigh Well enjoy this next chapter. REVIEW

I do appreciate the two of you that DO review…but I know there's more! I SEE ALL!

**(When **_**They**_** Cry)**

Haruko sighed heavily in annoyance and clenched her fists tightly as she jumped from tree to tree with the seireitei shinigami. _'How the hell did I end up here? Why am I going back with them?' _

_**Flashback**_

_Onibaba sat formally on her futon and gingerly took a sip of tea. She closed her eyes and sighed with content. She snapped them open so suddenly, Haruko nearly jumped in surprise, "Go back to seireitei with them,"_

"_EH?! DEMO NANDE?!"_

"_Don't yell," Hiyori remained calm, "I'm not deaf yet,"_

"_Surprising," Haruko mumbled._

"_What? You say something?" Hiyori looked at Haruko as if she were a normal, innocent, old lady._

_Haruko sweat dropped, "N-nothing," She recovered quickly, "Anyways, why should I?"_

"_The old fart may need his entire captain and vice captain squad in order to observe our side of soul society, but I trust you'd be just as good as all of them put together. Even if the job will take you a little longer, considering you're still one person," She sipped her tea yet again._

"_Eh?…You're saying you want me to observe them, like they did to us?"_

"_Yes,"_

"_But I-"_

"_Enough! I'm tired! You'll leave with them first thing tomorrow!"_

_**End Flashback**_

'_What a pain in my a-'_ Haruko accidentally slipped on the last tree branch she stepped on and found herself falling. She quickly reached out for something to grab, but nothing came to her finger tips and she continued to fall. In her panic, she couldn't think fast enough and merely closed her eyes shut tight, waiting for some kind of impact.

She waited.

She never felt the impact of the ground, instead she found her face pressed against a chest and strong arms around her thin frame. She felt the wind whip her ponytail and hair ribbon back and forth restlessly. She opened her eyes and saw a tough looking man with pink eye tattoos and a bald head. They stopped and he set her down on the ground.

"You alright?" He averted his eyes, refusing to look her straight in the eye.

"Yeah," She looked at him curiously, "Thanks…um.."

"Ikkaku," He felt slightly uncomfortable, talking to her, so he began to walk away without so much as another word

"Oi! Matte!" Haruko puffed out her cheeks in a sort of pout and caught up with him as they both rejoined the group, "I was just trying to say 'thanks'! You don't have to get all uptight about it,"

"I'm not," Ikkaku looked ahead, still refusing to look at her.

"Well it sure as hell seems like it!" She raised her voice and glared at him. It really got on her nerves when people didn't look at her when they were talking.

"We'll I wasn't. Just let it go already," He was beginning to get annoyed and it was hot to top it off. The summer's heat made him even more irritable than usual, but he tried his best to be neutral with her.

Haruko produced a comical anger mark on her forehead, "Why don't you jus-!" Haruko let out a surprised yelp as Yachiru rammed her into her cheek; almost as if she'd been thrown.

"Neh neh! Haru-chan! Race me!" The pink haired vice captain smiled excitedly.

Haruko rubbed her cheek that began to turn a bit red, "Race where?"

"Back home! Are you ready?"

She sighed. She didn't feel like playing because of the summer's heat. She hated summer on most occasions. It was usually far too hot and on such days she would lie under a shady tree, immobile until it cooled down. Though she didn't hate summer completely. Haruko liked the particularly warm days, where one would be able to walk through the cool grass, barefoot, and enjoy the summer breeze. Today, however, wasn't one of those days. Today is was especially hot, making her both irritable and sleepy, "I guess," She grumbled and waited for Yachiru to give the signal to start.

She heard a small chuckle from her right. She looked over and saw Ayasegawa Yumichika smiling, "Be careful, Haruko-san, she usually cheats if she finds herself losing,"

"R-Right," She smiled nervously and sweat dropped.

"Ready? Set," Yachiru looked at Haruko before taking off. She didn't even say 'go', she just ran off, giving herself a head start.

An alarm went of in Haruko's head, "O-oi!" She ran to catch up with the small child.

**Eat my dust!**

"You! You cheated!" Yachiru jumped up and down in anger, pounding her small fists on Haruko's thighs and lower back as she ran around the taller girl in rage, "Oooh! Cheater! Cheater! Cheater!"

Haruko stood calmly, picking her ear with her pinky finger, "You're the one that cheated first,"

"Demo!" She whined and continued to pound away.

Haruko sighed and caught her fists in her hands, gently, "Look. We both cheated, so why don't we call it a draw this time? But for right now lets go to your healing ward, or whatever, and find you a band-aid or something 'cause your hand's kinda bleeding," She pointed at the open wound on Yachiru's right hand. The smaller girl hadn't even noticed, since she was truly trying her hardest to beat Haruko.

"Eh? This is nothing," She looked at Haruko as if she was crazy, "It's just a small cut. It'll heal by itself,"

She took Yachiru by the wrist and began to drag her along, "Not if it gets infected it won't. Then it'll be something bothersome to deal with,"

"Mou," Yachiru pouted and led her to squad four, reluctantly. Once they reached squad four, Haruko immediately dragged Yachiru inside and demanded one of the inhabitants working there to clean up Yachiru's hand and supply a proper bandage.

The boy assisting them, stared at Haruko curiously for a second. Haruko gave him a stern look, not taking a kind attitude to perverts, "What the hell are you staring at?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

He immediately brought himself back to reality, "N-nothing! You just sort of looked like someone I used to know," He coughed and turned around, "This way please. I'll get Yachiru fuku-taichou assistance," Even once he was cleaning up her wound, he continued to steal glances at Haruko every so often.

"Why do you keep staring at me!?" She unfolded her arms and clenched her fists at her side.

"M-My deepest apologies, miss," he bowed low, "But I just can't help but think that you really do look like someone I used to know," He lifted his head slightly, daring to look into her eyes, "If I may…" He hesitated, "Uh…your name perhaps, miss?"

She eyed him suspiciously for a minute and studied him. He was small and lanky; much too frail looking for battle. His black hair reached just a little past his chin and his eyes were droopy. He didn't sound too confident either from the way his voice stuttered and shook at times. She finally nodded and spoke to him, "My name is Haruko. Madarame Haruko," She spoke with the utmost confidence.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise and shock, not believing what he'd just heard, "Madarame? You said you're surname was 'Madarame'?" Haruko nodded slowly, still being cautious around him, "What about your parents? Do you know their names?"

Haruko visibly flinched, "I only knew my mother's name. I…didn't know my father," She averted her eyes nervously, "My mother's name was Kiyoko,"

"N-Nani?! Then that would make you-!OW!" Yachiru latched onto the boy's arm with her teeth, letting her saliva stain the sleeve of his haori, "Fuku-taichou! OW! Please! That hurts!" He continued to run around the room flailing his arm around in attempt to get the girl off of him.

Haruko sweat dropped and sighed. As soon as the boy came flailing right past her, she grabbed him by the collar and made him stand still. She hugged Yachiru's tiny body as she continued to bite the boy, "Oi, Yachiru, that's enough. He fixed you up; you shouldn't do that when he helped you, you know," She tugged until Yachiru finally unlatched her teeth.

Yachiru turned to Haruko, pouting, "Demo! I'm hungry! The race made me hungry! And I can't wait until Ken-chan and the others catch up to get some food! Hungry!" She wiggled around in Haruko's grip.

"Alright! Alright! Calm down! Lets go get something to eat then!" Yachiru jumped out of her arms and began to jump up and down happily all over the room.

Haruko smiled slightly. Yachiru really did remind her of someone she knew all to well. She turned to the boy, "What's your name?"

"Me? I'm Yamada Hanatarou! It was a pleasure meeting you, Madarame-san," Hanatarou smiled brightly and bowed slightly.

"Un," She nodded and bowed a little herself, "Likewise. I'm not done talking to you though!"

"C'mon, Haru-chan!" Yachiru tugged on her sleeve forcefully, "I'm hungry!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm coming!" She forcefully followed Yachiru out the door, but turned her head back in Hanatarou's direction quickly, "I'll talk to you another time, Yamada-san!"

"H-Hai!"

Yachiru pulled her out of the fourth squad and into the searing heat of the outdoors. The sun was beginning to set and the air wasn't nearly as hot as before, but it was still fairly warm and Haruko knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep that night due to the heat of summer's night. Haruko looked up at the radiant sky. The sun itself had already gone behind the mountains, but an orange and purple tint was still visible. She followed the colors until the sky lead her to the blue void and twinkling stars, all the while still being pulled by Yachiru. The stars glittered and sparkled at her and allowing her to become mentally lost within its depths. Whenever she looked up at the endless sea, she always felt as somewhat dizzy and become a bit more spacey. She'd feel like she was floating amongst them, like when she played the human song 'Rachmaninov Concerto No.2'. This, however, was slightly different. The billions of twinkling stars constantly reminded her of snowflakes, bringing her back to that day yet again.

"Haru-chan! Look! Ken-chan's back!" Yachiru pointed to seireitei's opening gates. Haruko looked over to the entire team of shinigami walking in, looking tired and exhausted from their travels. Most shunpoed off to their home squads, but several stayed behind to chat quickly with one another. Kenpachi and his squad walked up to Yachiru and Haruko. "Ken-chan!" Yachriu let go of Haruko's hand and ran over to Kenpachi excitedly, next appearing on his shoulder, "Haru-chan and I had lotsa fun," She giggled.

"Is that right?" He lifted his hand and placed it on Haruko's head, ruffling up her hair a bit, "Thanks for entertaining Yachiru here,"

Haruko's eyes widened in surprise but her pupils contracted in a sort of fear.

_**Flashback**_

"_Okasan!" Little Haruko ran up to her mother and clung to the bottom half of her kimono. She smiled brightly at her mother and her mother responded by smiling back sweetly and patting her on the head gently._

_**End Flashback**_

Haruko calmed down slightly and silently forgave him. There was no way he could've known what that type of gesture meant to her. She grabbed his large wrist with both of her hands and carefully removed his hand from the top of her head. Kenpachi gave her a questioning look.

"Neh, Ken-chan!" Yachiru broke the short silence, "Me and Haru-chan were gonna go get a meal together! Lets all go back to our squad and get some dinner from the cafeteria!"

"Actually a meal sounds pretty good right about now," Ikkaku leaned on one foot and folded his arms in front of his chest, "I'm starvin',"

Yumichika nodded in response and looked over to Haruko, "Neh, Haruko-san, are you hungry too? In any case you'll be coming back to our squad for the time being. Yamamoto Sou-taichou has already decided it,"

Haruko looked between all four of them, "Ja, I guess I'll just follow you then,"

"Yay!" Yachiru jumped up and continuously tugged on Haruko's sleeve, "Haru-chan can sleep with me! And we'll eat a bunch of sweets! And tell really scaaaaary ghost stories! And maybe even play pranks on some of the lower seats! Yay! Yay!! YAY!" Haruko just smiled awkwardly and sweat dropped.

_**LET'S ALL HAVE A SLEEPOVER! **_

Once they reached squad eleven they immediately went over to the cafeteria and obtained a hearty meal. Haruko gripped her tray of food tightly, feeling many pairs of eyes on her. Her skin crawled with distaste for the squad already. She sat in between Yachiru and Yumichika, while Ikkaku and Kenpachi sat opposite of them. Throughout the entire meal, Haruko could feel stares burning into her back, making her slightly irritable and nervous. She was almost there, so close to yelling at everyone, when…

"Haru-chan! Lets go take a bath together!" Yachiru jumped out of her seat and tugged her sleeve.

"Fuku-taichou," Yumichika whined, "Haruko-san's still eating!"

"No," She replied quickly, "I'm fine. I don't have much of an appetite right now anyway," She got up and allowed herself to be pulled by Yachiru. As soon as they walked past the door going out, nearly every head in the room turned and everyone stretched out their neck to follow them with their eyes. Several men got up, attempting to look casual, but failing miserably. Ikkaku's eye twitched as they walked past him to throw away the remainder of their food and follow the two girls. Ikkaku set his bowl of rice down with a loud 'clank' and got up, slamming his hands loudly on the table. He briskly walked over to the doors and slammed them shut loudly.

He glared harshly at the entire room, "Which one of you bastards was gonna make an attempt to follow them?" Several people cowered beneath his gaze, "Why don't we have a little squad meeting…"

_**Watashi wa…hentai! Diasuki no Hentai! XD**_

"Yay!" Yachiru jumped in the, rather overly large, bath, splashing water everywhere. Haruko turned her head to the side and squeezed her eyes shut to prevent any water from getting in her eyes and irritating them. She smiled at the happy girl and leaned back against the edge of the bath and placed her elbows out on top of the cool floor, contrasting with the searing heat from the bath water. Yachiru floated over to her, "Haru-chan, do you like baths?"

"Of course. What woman doesn't?" She smiled at Yachiru.

"Have you ever taken a bath with someone else before?" The pink haired vice captain tilted her head.

"Yep," Haruko's brow twitched a little. She didn't like how the smaller girl was always trying to force her way into her personal life.

"With who?" She continued to push further.

Haruko sighed in annoyance, "A few girls from back at the female academy,"

"Hmmm," Yachiru looked at her face carefully for a moment, serious, "Haru-chan, does it bother you to talk about yourself?"

Haruko looked at Yachiru in the eyes directly and studied her silently. Finally, she shrugged, "Kinda. I'm just not really used to it, is all,"

"Then lets play a 'get-to-know-each-other-better' game!" Haruko threw her head down on the concrete, comically, and produced crocodile tears. When would the torture end? Sometimes Yachiru was a bit too much for her taste.

_**Taskete…kurdasai**_

"See! That was fun, wasn't it, Haru-chan?" Yachiru followed Haruko's footsteps down the hallway. They were dressed in white bath kimono and their hair was still slightly wet, making the air seem cooler than it really was. Haruko sweat dropped with tiredness and annoyance. As it turned out, Haruko found out that Yachiru was quite a bully. If Haruko refused to answer a question, Yachiru would produce some manner of kiddy torture to make her talk.

Haruko glanced at Yachiru from the corner of her eyes. Yachiru immediately looked up at her and smiled sweetly. Haruko averted her eyes back ahead of her, '_Pink haired menace…_' Haruko thought bitterly. Her senses went off as she felt two people approaching. Sure enough, down the hall, two men turned the corner into the same hallway she walked on. Haruko kept her eyes straight, not daring to look at them. She saw their eyes widen from the corner of her eyes.

The two quickly pulled themselves to the side and threw themselves into a bowing position on their hands and knees, "Konbanwa! Yachiru fuku-taichou! Madarame hime-sama!"

Yachiru completely ignored them, but Haruko stopped completely, causing Yachiru to run into her legs and look up at her questionably. She saw the men shiver with fear as they kept their heads bowed, refusing to look up, "Why did you address me like so?"

The men remained silent for a moment, but one finally spoke up still keeping his head down, "We did not realize who you were before! Our apologies!"

Haruko immediately assumed they meant that she was from a different academy and that she was going to grade them based on performance, so she accepted their reason. But to go to such a length as 'hime-sama'? She was still somewhat suspicious, "Ja. Oyasumi nasai," She bid them goodnight and immediately stalked down the hallway before they could utter another word. Soon she was out of hearing distance.

A head poked out of the room in front of the two previous shinigami (who've now stood up), "What the hell's going on out here? Why're ya being so nice to some chick? If you wanna screw her just do it already," He obviously slept through dinner, therefore missed the 'meeting'.

The first shinigami smacked him upside the head while the other spoke, "Shut up, man! That's Kiyoko hime-sama's daughter! Madarame-santsuki(A/N: 'santsuki' means third seat) will tear you apart if he heard you talking like that!"

"Eh?! That woman?!"

_**Shhhh! Himitsu da!**_

"Yachiru," Haruko was mentally exhausted by her leech's constant interrogating, "I'm going to sleep!"

"Demo-!"

"Oyasumi!" Haruko threw the covers over her head angrily, hoping the little girl would leave her alone then. She heard a whine and a small sigh, some rustling of the covers nearby, and finally….sweet silence. Haruko relaxed her tense body and allowed her head to poke out of the covers for a bit of fresh air. Slowly, her mind began to blur and drift of into slumber.

_**Dream (Haruko) **_

_Haruko opened her eyes slowly, feeling the aching pain of the cold numbness at her feet. Her head was down and bowed when she opened them, and as she did pure white hard, fluffiness came into focus. Her feet where buried ankle deep in snow. She blinked several times, her empty coal irises finally coming into focus themselves and obtaining pupils. This time she blinked, as aware as she was allowed to be in a dream. She lifted her head up and let her eyes follow the, now, descending crystal flakes that seemed to float like miniature newborn fairies. Aside from the snow and snowflakes, her entire world was pitch black. In the distance she could only see the ground that was snow, but anything above the ground was only darkness._

_She told her feet to move, but they would not listen. They remained glued beneath the snow and she continued to feel the uncomfortable position of the burning cold ice, attempting to bite at her blood cells. _

_She heard movement and crunching in the snow, but it was far from being as heavy as human footsteps. Normally, it would've gone unheard by any ear, but silence such as this was eriee and a pin might be heard from miles away. It's almost as if no sound really existed. She'd almost come to believe so herself, until she heard the tiniest crunching sounds for steps, or perhaps even little hops. The sound continuously grew louder and louder, though it was still faint for being so small. She didn't bother to look around. She knew it was heading towards her anyway. Why waste the effort?_

_The small crunching noises stopped. Haruko's eyes widened at the little creature before her. It's head moved from side to side, looking at her curiously but unafraid. It chirped happily, now knowing Haruko meant it no harm, and ruffled its little yellow feathers and shaking off a bit of water. The canary filtered through its feathers with its short and round beak. Haruko assumed it ate mostly nuts and berries. Possibly the occasional insect if it was small enough. A bit of movement, from the corner of her eye, caught her attention. This time she turned her head in order to see what decided to show itself next. _

_  
This creature wasn't exactly living per-se. Well it was, just not as mobile as the yellow canary in front of her. It, too, was completely out of place amongst the harsh winter. A small cocoon twitched, just slightly in indication that it was still alive. The canary chirped loudly, bringing Haruko's attention back to the yellow ball of feathers before her. She smiled brightly, allowing her eyes to close in comfort, as she listened to the bird's beautiful song. The little bird and its song sounded so happy and full of life. She continued to listen with adoration._

_Suddenly, a terrible squawking, gurgling sound was heard. Haruko immediately opened her eyes in reaction to the detestable sound. Her eyes widened with absolute horror at the insanity before her. The little yellow canary was now drenched in blood, half rolled over on its side, and half on its back. Its little beak was still open from the last sound it uttered and back eyes were still open wide. Crimson liquid seeped through the snow and embedded itself in icy layers. It poured out slowly, yet somehow still so rapidly, from the gaping, fatal, wound in its chest. It was nearly sliced in two, perhaps an inch from being completely severed. Tiny pink lungs and intestines spilled out and only added to the image of horror._

_At last, it seemed that Haruko's limbs would finally listen to her will. She kneeled down and held up her arms in a way that she obviously wanted to help the canary, but was too afraid to touch it. She didn't know where to start. Tears swelled in her eyes, but she refused to let them spill. Finally she worked up the courage to reach for the lifeless bird. She reached out. Nothing. Again she reached out. Again nothing. She still had the same horror stricken expression, but her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What was happening? Her limbs were working fine. The bird was directly in front of her at half an arm's length. Why couldn't she reach it? She reached for it yet again, but she could not reach the poor thing. It was such a strange feeling and she could not understand why._

"_What's the matter? Can't reach? Heh," Haruko froze in another attempt to reach. She knew that voice. The cold, cloudy, misty voice that descended on one's ears like hazardous fog. She looked at his bare feet standing _on top_ of the snow, unlike hers. Her eyes traveled just a bit further up to see his faded black kimono with the faded silver swirl pattern. She continued to let her eyes travel up and take root at the monstrous scar encircling his neck. It looked jagged and rough, like someone tried sewing his head back together with a knife. She didn't dare to travel any further then that. She saw only his shaggy black hair fall to his shoulders, but that was as far as she got. Her body shook with fear, rage, and hate. She knew who this man was. She knew his power and how strong he was. She knew that it was_ him_ that had caused her so many years of hate and mourning for her beloved mother. She hated him beyond feelings and words. There was no word, no synonym strong enough to describe her distaste for the murderer._

_Haruko's perspective was no longer from that of her own body, facing the man. She saw the rest as if it were a horror movie being played on the big screen. The image of the cocoon had come into focus, nearly dominating the image and blocking the figure of the man she'd hated so, and the image of her and the man in the background had blurred like vision through teary eyes. An even worse sound rang in the air. Worse than what the canary had given off. This sound was much louder and bones could be heard cracking from the dull blade. Haruko's empty body fell to the ground, lifeless and spurting blood all over the perfect sheet of white._

_The cocoon, that continued to stay in focus, began to emit a black liquid from inside. It twitched once…and then…nothing. The black liquid seeped out slowly and leaked through the tip._

_**End Dream**_

Haruko gasped and jolted upright. She panted, trying to regain a proper breathing pattern. Cold sweat trickled down her brow and down the side of her face. Her eyes were wide with fear and tried piercing through the dark room for vision. Once she realized she was no longer dreaming, she calmed her breathing and wiped the sweat off her face with the back of her hand and part of her twisted blankets, once her arms were all used up. She placed a hand to her heart in order to calm her breathing. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She exhaled slowly and let go of her heart, now feeling much more calm than she had before. She looked over to Yachiru's futon and noticed the girl still sleeping soundly. She lay on her back, completely sprawled out, and blankets half off the futon. Haruko gave a half smile, mostly glad she wasn't caught for fear of being interrogated about her nightmare.

She sighed softly and got up. She stretched her limbs a little, feeling a bit stiff, and walked out of the room, using the door that faces the outside world rather than the door that leads to the hallway and stuffy inner building. She doubted anyone else would be up so late…or early, so she didn't bother to change out of her sleeping kimono. The night was dark and surprisingly cold for summer, but she shrugged and supposed that was the awkwardness of summer. She'd found herself awake in the middle of the night before, closing a window or door and pulling up the covers because it'd been a cold night in summer and in the morning the blankets would be exiled from her bed yet again.

Haruko looked to her left and saw a bit of moonlight. Her mind, fully awake, rejoiced at the thought of the moon and all its luminous glory. She turned her body and calmly heading in that direction. Reaching the corner, she turned, realizing she still could not see the moon from just before passing the corner. She kept her eyes on the moon, not bothering to look at the path ahead of her. She stopped after a few long strides, finally able to see the moon in full view. It was waning and only a little more than half of it showed still, but it was bright and beautiful nonetheless.

"Didn't know anyone else was still awake," Haruko flinched and jumped back slightly. She tore her eyes away from the enchantment and looked to her left, where the voice had come. She recognized him easily and eased her guard a bit. Ikkaku smirked faintly and sipped from his cup of sake, "What're you doing awake, kid?" His voice sounded more bothered than curious.

Haruko's lips straightened out into a line and she abruptly turned her body back to face the moon. She placed one arm at her side limply, while the other crossed her torso to hold onto the limp arm, "Nothing. I just couldn't sleep,"

"The vice captain droolin' on ya or something?" He closed his eyes and relished another sip of the clear liquid.

"No. It's just like I said,"

He was about to take another sip of sake, but stopped in mid sip. He looked at her from the corners of his eyes, studying her carefully. Her eyes were just visible enough to see it. He scoffed to himself, considering himself lucky that she never hid her eyes from people like Kiyoko did. The worry in her eyes was small and barely there anymore, but he knew that's what he saw, "You had a nightmare didn't you?" He sipped his sake calmly.

"No!" She raised her voice just a little, not wanting to wake up all of seireitei, and defended herself furiously, "I told you! I just couldn't sl-"

"Sit down," He cut her off rudely.

"Eh?"

"You heard me. Just sit down. Enjoy the view you came outside to see,"

She looked at him curiously for a moment. She was hesitant in trusting him. She just barely knew him! But the memory of him catching her from when she fell earlier, popped in her mind like hot toast. It wasn't just the fact that he helped her from the fall, but the fact that she actually _felt safe_ when she was with him. Even now, he calmed her anxiety some. She sighed inwardly in defeat and sat down on her rear with her feet hanging off the side. She didn't feel as embarrassed as she normally would have, for he, too, was in his night kimono and there was also still the fact that his presence made her tensions ease away somehow.

"I'll…listen if you'd like," Ikkaku hesitated in offering, not really knowing much about how to console her particularly, "Your dream I mean,"

She scoffed, "No thanks," She shifted her eyes to him for a second, but quickly averted them back to the glowing object in the sky, though not paying so much attention to it anymore, "Care to share why you're not asleep?"

He shrugged, "Just restless," He took another sip, "Moon doesn't help much right now either. Lights up my entire room," He shoved a thumb in the direction of the door behind him.

"I see," Her eyes shifted yet again to him.

Ikkaku grinned widely, knowing now why she kept averting her eyes in his direction, "Wanna try some sake?" He poured some more, refilling his cup, and holding it out to her, offering.

Haruko's face faltered and she sweat dropped, "Don't you think I'm a little underage for that?"

"Well you were curious weren't you?" He took the cup back and took a small sip so that it wouldn't slosh out. Haruko blushed slightly, knowing fully that's what she was really thinking. She really was curious about the taste of sake. He held it out to her again, "You sure? I won't rat you out, I promise. It'll be our little secret," He closed his eyes, "I don't really think you'll like it anyway,"

Haruko chewed on the inside of her lip for a moment, considering her options. Finally, she turned to him and took the cup carefully. She brought the cup up to her lips and she immediately got a whiff of the strong smelling wine. She crinkled her nose at first, but adjusted to the smell. Ikkaku leaned his head in his left hand, while his elbow rested on his knee. He cracked open an eye to watch her. Haruko gingerly sipped down an entire gulp of it. Ikkaku opened both his eyes in slight surprise, not expecting her to take such a large gulp.

She held her mouth with one hand and shoved the cup back in his hands. She screamed (he mouth still being covered and full of sake) and flailed her arms around, kicking like a small child.

Ikkaku looked at her in disbelief. Was she still holding the sake in her mouth? "Well! Spit it out or swallow it! Don't just hold it there, you moron!"

"Mmmm!" She screamed inwardly and quickly gulped the burning liquid. She felt somewhat light headed, but it faded a bit.

Ikkaku set the cup down on the miniature tray and began rolling around the floor and laughing with tears in his eyes, "What the heck was that?! If I had any idea you were gonna do _that_, I woulda at least told you to do it fast!" He continued to laugh, while Haruko pouted childishly. Ikkaku stopped laughing, but grinned like no tomorrow. _'She's just like Kiyoko when it comes to sake!'_ He laughed at nearly the same memory in his head from so many years ago.

_**I wanna try sake too…**_

So! There you have it folks! My newest chapter! I gottta tell you, this one was tricky for me. The minor details were kicking my ass! Grr! But I win! (sniffle. Tears of joy)

So here I am. 4:10am and I'm finally finished! WOO! Awww! See how special you guys are? I'm gonna miss my 6am jog over some sleep, just so I can finish this! :D Feel very special!

I'm trying to make you feel guilty….GO REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 4

Mori: I DEMAND REVIEWS! (lies face down on the floor, unmoving) I'll suffocate. . .

_**Utsoski!**_

Haruko scrunched up her eyes and buried her head beneath the covers, refusing to let the sunlight in. She grumbled, already feeling the heat of the day so early in the morning. She inhaled deeply, sighing, and caught a whiff of a scent that was not her own. Surely, even though she'd only slept in her borrowed futon for a day, it would've smelled like her by now from her constant tossing and turning. She froze in place, trying hard to remember the events of last night. She remembered running into Ikkaku because she couldn't sleep from a nightmare. She remembered trying sake for the first time. She pondered a bit more. She definitely didn't remember being drunk, or even drinking more than the one gulp she'd tried. So what happened?

"Rise and shine, kid," She felt Ikkaku shake her awake with his foot, instead of kicking her, "C'mon, it's going to get late,"

Haruko was half across the room before he could start another sentence. She was sitting, back to the wall and arms spread out against it, "What the hell's going on?!" She nearly shouted at him, "Why am I in your room?" She looked at him, almost horrified. He had his standard shinigami uniform on already, but a slightly damp towel rested upon his shoulders, telling her of his recent bath.

"Ch," He rubbed his neck with the towel a little more and threw it in a corner of the room somewhere, "You fell asleep on me. I didn't know which room you were stayin' in so I let ya sleep in mine for the night. And, no," He answered before she could think to ask him, "I didn't sleep in the same futon as you,"

"U-un," She nodded and stood up, "Thanks. Sorry for falling asleep though," She averted her eyes to the side.

"Don't worry about it," He shrugged, "It happens," He quickly changed the subject, "So where are ya headed today? I mean you're going to take a look around seireitei right?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I think I'll go down to squad four first,"

Ikkaku froze as he was picking up a few pieces of clothing that'd been tossed around. His back was towards her, so she could not read the horrified expression on his face. He turned his head ever so slightly to her, still not allowing her to read his expression, "Why would you pick that one first?"

She swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, "Just thought it'd be the easiest to start with," She lied, "Why?"

He visibly shook his head from any thoughts, "Nothin'," He resumed picking up the clothes and threw them in a hamper. He hated doing so, but old habits died hard. Of course it wouldn't have become a habit in the first place if it weren't for a certain someone, "Just curious," He turned to her, a smirk spread out across his lips, "Not exactly squad eleven's favorite team," He walked up to her and lead her by the shoulders to the door leading out of his room and into the building hallways, "Now, hurry up and get moving before most of the other members wake up. Don't want them giving you looks do you?"

She chuckled, "Yeah. You're right," She stepped out into the hallway and bowed her head lightly in respect, "Thanks again,"

"Right. Right," He waved her off and closed the door as soon as she was out of his sights. He sighed heavily and continued to waltz around his room, picking up random dirty clothes and throwing them in the hamper. He hated the habit that he'd picked up from Kiyoko, but he had to admit that it did give him a bit of thinking time. Was it rotten luck, fate, coincidence, that she just happened to pick squad four first? It couldn't have been…but there was still a possibility that she didn't know anything. After all, Yachiru was watching her before they arrived, right? The pink-haired vice captain was a complete goof off and slacked in almost all of her duties, but even she knew when something this important was at stake, right? Surely she didn't let Haruko near vital information about her mother's past.

He threw hakama pants in the basket angrily.

Maybe she didn't have to. Maybe Haruko already knew something without even having to ask around or having other people tell her. Did Kiyoko tell her anything about her days as a shinigami? Haruko never talked about such things and no one, so far, has been able to pry it out of her. It was irritating him, and making him even more worried by the second. He no longer picked up clothes, for there was none left, and simply paced around his room and grit his teeth in frustration. He stopped suddenly as a thought crossed his mind, seemingly out of nowhere. He relaxed and sighed with a bit of relief. Perhaps Unohana-taichou had warned her squad already.

…_**Hibana…**_

"Ohayo," Haruko removed her sandals at the entrance of squad four and greeted the first person she saw walking by. The woman in a nurse-looking uniform stop and greeted her back politely, "Ano…Is Yamada-san available right now?"

"Yamada-san?" The woman placed her index finger on her chin in thought and averted her eyes to the ceiling, "…Ah! Hai, the boy with a gopher-like aura to him, right?"

Haruko sweat dropped at the woman's description, but she guessed that was close enough, "H-hai,"

"Alright, please wait here. I'll be back in a flash,"

Haruko nodded and waited. She watched curiously as a black swallow tail butterfly floated past her and fluttered down the hall. She blinked in curiosity, wondering what such a butterfly could possibly be doing within squad four. For a moment, her instinct told her to follow the butterfly, but she quickly shook her head free of such thoughts. She waited patiently. How long did it take to fetch a guy? She sighed inwardly and allowed her posture to slouch a bit as she leaned on one foot and crossed her arms. Her thoughts drifted towards Hanatarou. How much did he know about her mother? Did he know anything about her father? Or perhaps another lost member of her family? What was he about to say before Yachiru had bit him? She shifted feet impatiently. She needed to know and now. Her eyes cast downward at the clean hardwood floors and narrowed dangerously at the thought of her mother. Her mother had indeed been a wonderful person, but she almost hated remembering. At times, Haruko wished to just forget about everything and just live her life out however it happened to go. She closed her eyes in annoyance and grit her teeth. He really was taking too long.

"Ah, Madarame-san!" She heard his boyish voice from down the hall and gradually get closer with each syllable, "I'm sorry for making you wait so long!" He stopped in front of her and bowed deeply in apology, "My captain wanted to see me for a moment,"

"That's fine," She shrugged it off and unfolded her arms, "Mind if I ask you a couple of things?"

He looked at her, studying, weighing his options, "I suppose,"

_**()()()()**_

Haruko stormed through the maze that was seireitei, angry and frustrated. Hanatarou was no help to her at all. Everything was always 'I don't recall' or 'I wouldn't know about something like that'. She grit her teeth in tremendous frustration. He definitely knew something; he was just hiding it from her.

Throughout the rest of her day, Haruko attempted to go around to different squads, doing what she was supposed to be doing in the first place. But when someone gave her an awkward look or if she heard whispers about her, she immediately began to question them about Kiyoko. They, of course, would quickly deny it and cower away, making Haruko bite the inside of her lip in frustration. She was just about ready to start pulling out her hair, when a white haired captain walked by. His eyes lit up instantly at the sight of her, making Haruko raise and eyebrow at him curiously. Before she could even blink, he was by her side, annoying her with chitter-chatter and loads of candy. He claimed her 'the most adorable thing he's ever seen' as he walked off with a huge grin on his face. Haruko's eye twitched in annoyance at both the captain and the superfluous amount of candy in her arms. She sighed and figured she'd better make her way back to the eleventh division.

As soon as she stepped into the eleventh division, plenty of stares were directed towards her. Her face went red with embarrassment. Thankfully Yachiru bounced up to her happily, asking her about the candy and where she got all of it. When Yachiru finally paused long enough to let Haruko get a word in, Haruko spoke up.

"Yachiru, do you want this candy?" Haruko was definitely not in a good mood. She'd spent about an hour trying to interrogate Hanatarou, about another ten minutes trying to find her way to the next squad over in the hot sun, and bombarded by the thirteenth captain with an enormous amount of sweets. _Then_, because she didn't want to carry sweets everywhere she went, she had to walk all the way back to the eleventh squad in the hot sun. Haruko really hated the fact that it was hot and that they had no grass and shady trees within the walls of seireitei.

Yachiru's eyes lit up like a kid's eyes on Christmas morning, "Really?! I can have some?!"

"No," Yachiru stopped jumping up and down suddenly. Haruko held out her arm full of candy and let it all fall in a pile on top of the little girl, "You can have all of it,"

Yachiru's head popped out of the pile, "YAAAAAAY!!" She exclaimed loudly and began to munch on the candy without even removing excess items (such as wrapping or boxes). Haruko would've sweat dropped at the vice captain, had she not been so irritated.

"Heh, which captain gave you those?" Haruko looked at the source of the voice beside her. Ikkaku wore a big smirky-grin on his face.

"The one with long, white hair," She clenched her fist in front of her, a vein popping out.

He held back a laugh, "That's captain Ukitake. He's head of the thirteenth squad division," He folded his arms and got slightly serious, "So, how'd the fourth squad go? Did you even get to another squad yet? It's already after noon,"

Haruko sighed heavily, a dark aura filling the air around her, "Went to fourth squad. Got lost. It's fucking hot. I think I've had enough for today," Ikkaku smirked, "I'm going to take a bath,"

Ikkaku's internal alarm went off, "Eh?! W-wait! This squad is entirely made up of men. So naturally…the bath is…for men,"

She shrugged and continued to walk away.

_**()()()()**_

Haruko stood in the doorway of the public men's bath of the eleventh division. Every head turned to stare at her, stopping what they were previously doing. Her white bath kimono hung loosely around her petite frame. Her facial expression spelled out death for them. Most of the men knew better and chose to look away. Several others, however, didn't and walked up to her, cocky and stark naked. She resisted the urge to flinch at their dental hygiene and directed her glare towards the few that chose to surround her.

"Hey there. A little lost aren't we? Or maybe you're just lookin' for a bit of…_fun_," He placed a hand on her shoulder. Haruko quickly reacted by grabbing his arm, flipping him over, and throwing him down on the floor. He lie there, unconscious and drooling.

Another thought he'd get close, stubbornly, "C'mon, babe, we just wanna play with ya a little," He grabbed her bottom and squeezed it roughly.

The rest of the men watched in horror as they witnessed their commerade being beaten to a bloody pulp and thrown roughly out of the bath area, swearing they heard bones cracking. Haruko turned her attention back to the rest of them and glared harshly, "Out. Now," Her voice was filled with venom as she commanded them to get out. Each one scrambled to get their towels and wrap it around their waist as they stumbled out of the room in a hurry. Haruko smirked in satisfaction to herself.

Meanwhile…

Ikkaku stood just down the hallway from the men's bathing area. Although the men where headed in the opposite direction, they paused, feeling his familiar reiratsu skyrocket. They, in unison, slowly turned their heads around to see the demon that was Ikkaku. He stood partly in the shadows, seemingly red eyes glaring at them. They began to sweat profusely out of nervousness. He took a heavy step forward, causing them to flinch.

"So," He took another heavy step, earning pitiful whimpers from some of them, "You thought that just 'cause I wasn't around, that maybe you'd make a move on her," They didn't dare run. Not only because they were too afraid to move, but because they knew Ikkaku would be able to hunt each one of them down and hand it to them twice as bad as he had originally planned. He cracked his knuckles, "Let me make it clear about how serious I am," He advanced slowly with intimidation.

Back in the bath…

Haruko sighed with content as the hot water relaxed her muscles. She leaned back against the edge and let her elbows touch and lean against the cold surface of the edge.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Her eyes opened lazily as she looked at the doorway. Shadows danced across the rice paper. Screams of 'please forgive us!' and 'we'll never do it again!' made her smirk like crazy. She continued to watch the shadows dance and fall over and over, until her mood lifted. She smiled happily and continued with her bath.

_**Don't Touch That!**_

Haruko walked down the hallway, her bath robe secured tightly, in bliss. It'd been a while since she enjoyed a bath all to herself. She kept a towel around her neck, lazily drying her hair. She heard another set of footsteps approaching and tensed slightly.

"Ah, Haruko-chan," Yumichika's voice made itself clear to her and she relaxed. Haruko's judge of character was usually pretty good. She knew Yumichika wasn't like the lower seated men from squad eleven, "Did you enjoy your bath?" He smiled at her innocent beauty.

She looked up to him and smiled brightly, nodding her head vigorously, "Un! It's been a while since I've had a bath to myself. I enjoyed it,"

"That's good to hear," He walked with her down the hall, "There's still a bit of time left to review one of the neighboring squads, are you sure you want to quit for the day?"

"Yeah," She stuck out her bottom lip in a sort of pout gesture, "As irritating as this whole thing is, I kinda like it here. It's not all full of chatty and gossiping women all over the place," He chuckled at her, "What? I'm serious! Those women are all so bored that they start a rumor from nearly anything! Someone could be talking about their fantasy dream with another man and next thing you she's sneaking out to meet said man, apparently," She shook her head at the ridiculous thought.

"I see. Seems pretty boring,"

"Very," She stopped at her shared room with Yachiru (who was currently off pestering some poor soul), "If you don't mind, I kinda need to get dressed," She bowed her head lightly and retreated to the room.

Yumichika waved as she closed the door, but his smile quickly faded as soon as she closed the door. He walked away calmly, noting the clear footsteps behind him, "Hm," He smiled to himself as he stopped in front of the small pond that was in the eleventh division, "If you're going to stalk me, you could at least hide your presence a little better, Ikkaku,"

"Ch,"

"Did you want something?"

"Looks like she's pretty comfortable with you," His voice was emotionless.

"It would seem so," He knew that voice. It was the tone of voice he used when he wanted to hide his discomfort or pain, "What would be your point?"

"Mind doing me a favor?" Yumichika turned his head to the side, glancing back at his friend in curiosity, "Find out how much she knows about Kiyoko,"

There was a long pause, a long moment of silence. The bamboo shoot in the pond filled the tip with water and poured out the water once it got too full, making a sort of hollow clanking sound.

Yumichika's bangs covered his eyes, "Seems a bit sneaky don't you think?"

"Yeah," Ikkaku's voice was quiet, "I thought so too…but I need to know this. I need to know how much she's been told before I start runnin' my mouth off,"

"Oh? Does that mean you plan to tell her yourself? About who you are to her?"

"No," He answered a bit too quickly, "At least…not now anyway,"

Yumichika sighed heavily, "I'm not promising anything,"

"Thanks,"

_**Jodanda janai yo!**_

"Ah, Ikkaku-san!" Haruko ran into Ikkaku yet again on the outside hallway, relaxing and drinking sake while watching the sun recede, "Evening!" She said brightly before plopping herself down next to him.

He glanced curiously at her and continued sipping his sake, "You seem happy,"

"That's 'cause I had a bath to myself for once!" She smiled brightly.

"Heh, I take it you never get some alone time,"

She kept her smile, but her voice was slightly bitter, "You have no idea,"

He chuckled at her and held up an empty cup, "Wanna go for some more sake?" He asked teasingly.

She glared playfully and gently pushed his hand away, "No thanks. I've learned my lesson,"

The smirk on his face grew and he placed the empty cup back in the tray along with his own. His expression grew more serious without her noticing. Haruko happily swung her legs back and forth over the edge of the hall. He hated to bring up a difficult subject when she was so content at the moment, but he needed to know. He wanted Yumichika to do as little as possible for him, because even he hated the idea of sneaking around her for information, "Hey, kid,"

"Hm?" Haruko recognized the uneasiness in his voice, but chose to push it aside.

"What do you remember about…your mom," He nearly choked out the words. He found it difficult to think of Kiyoko as a mother, then again she always had a bit of a motherly streak to her at times. Gentle and caring, always calm…or at least most of the time.

She stopped swinging her legs and, refusing to look at him, in a serious tone replied, "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged and folded his hands in the sleeves of his haori, "Just curious I guess. I heard she was a shinigami," He stiffened at his own words, not sure if Haruko already knew this much or not. If she didn't, she showed no expression of surprise.

"I see," Her hands gripped the edge of the laminate wood harshly, "So you knew?"

Ikkaku was the one to be surprised, "What do you mean? Of course I knew! She-" He took a deep breath and calmed himself down, "She used to be _here_. Working with all of us,"

Haruko turned her entire torso to look at him sharply, "You're lying," He looked back at her, unblinking and unmoving.

At first Ikkaku was a bit disappointed that she didn't come out with Kiyoko's eyes, but now, as he stared her down, he was glad. If they had been Kiyoko's eyes, he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold his gaze towards her, or possibly even look at her entirely. A thought crossed his mind quickly, still continuing to stare at her. Had Kiyoko ever looked in her eyes and wondered about him? They were his eyes after all…

Haruko realized he wasn't lying. Her eyes grew wide for a second, but quickly regained their composure, "If that's true then…then why does everyone turn away when I ask them something about her? Everyone acts like they don't know who I'm talking about!"

"It's an old wound," He raised his voice a little to get her to stop shouting. There was a short pause. Even the crickets nearby seemed to stop for their sake, "Everyone likes to avoid it because it's an old wound they don't want to reopen. They all really liked her. Hell. Everyone _loved_ her," He closed his eyes and smirked, "She was always kind to everyone no matter the circumstance,"

Haruko looked at him curiously, "If you're telling me the truth, then why don't you have a hard time talking about it?"

Ikkaku sighed heavily, slowly, "I do. But the wound's still open anyway. Might as well,"

"I see," She lied down on her stomach, looking up at him. She leaned her head on the palm of her hands as her elbows bent to hold her head up, "How'd you know my mom? Who were you to her?" She began her interrogation.

Ikkaku's eye twitched, "A really good friend,"

"Hmmm," She looked at him curiously, "How'd-"

"Look, kid, it's dinner time," He got up and began to walk away, "C'mon. Lets go before all the good food is gone,"

Haruko pouted and followed him. She knew what she wanted. She was definitely going to get what she wanted.

_**SCHEAMING! :D**_

Mori: Sorry, guys! I had a lot of writers block in this chapter, so I couldn't get it out to you sooner (sad face) Also for there no being action scenes in this one xD It'll get much more interesting next chapter I promise!

One more thing! I start school on Tuesday! (hysterically cries) GAWDS! I hate school…Hopefully I can keep my grades up.

Well anyhow, thanks for reading! Please review while you wait for the next chapter! LOVE YOU ALL LOTS


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